Neil Loughlin
Biographic Data
| ID | 747453 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Neil Loughlin |
| GIVEN NAMES | Neil |
| FAMILY NAME | Loughlin |
| SIGNATURE | LOUGHLIN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0254-184X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 64 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Digital Crime, Dirty Money and the State: Southeast Asia's Illicit Political Economy and the Rise of Cybercrime
Over the past decade, cyber scamming has expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia. These operations cluster in compounds within business parks, casinos, industrial zones and other real estate developments. Although organized crime is often assumed to thrive where states are weak, this article offers a politically grounded explanation for why these economies take root in particular countries through complex and heterogeneous entanglements with the s…
Soft power beyond liberal democracy. Authoritarian attraction, legitimacy and diffusion
Soft power is one of the most widely used concepts in political science, but it has underestimated the attractiveness of illiberal or autocratic states due to its inherent liberal bias. In response, this article proposes a framework of authoritarian attraction emphasising the relational nature of power with three distinct analytical categories: (1) sender strategies, (2) audience preferences, and (3) behavioural outcomes. By drawing on and synthe…
States and corporate land acquisition: Comparing regimes of dispossession across the global south
How do processes of land dispossession vary across countries and sectors, and how could these differences be studied comparatively? In this introductory essay to the special issue Comparing Regimes of Dispossession, we address these questions by analysing a range of cases of corporate land dispossession from Brazil, East Timor, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Cambodia. We compare these cases by analysing five aspects of dispossessionary processes…
Cambodia in 2023 and 2024
The end of 2024 marked the first full calendar year in power for Cambodia’s new prime minister, Hun Manet. Manet inherited the position from his father, Hun Sen, in August 2023, fulfilling long-standing expectations of a dynastic succession within the Hun family. Questions remain about the balance of power between Manet and his father, who continues to wield significant influence. Internationally, Cambodia has sought to maintain its political and…
Is Chinese Investment Driving Authoritarianism? Evidence from the First Decade of the Belt and Road in Southeast Asia
This article investigates the impact of Chinese investment on authoritarianism through the lens of authoritarian linkage, focusing on the first decade of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia and Malaysia. While both countries were electoral autocracies when the BRI was launched in 2013, their regime trajectories diverged. In Cambodia, Chinese investment reinforced elite patronage networks and coercive st…
Speculative land grabs and Chinese investment: Cambodia’s evolving regime of dispossession
This article uses the concept of 'regimes of dispossession' to explore how processes of land dispossession are evolving in Cambodia. Focusing on Preah Sihanouk province, which has received an influx of capital from China, we show empirically how non-productive and speculative land uses are thriving, resulting in frenzied and chaotic patterns of land grabbing. Our findings suggest a new phase in the recursive relationship between land control and …
Cambodia in 2022
The year 2022 began with a newly anointed leader-in-waiting in Hun Manet, the eldest son of prime minister Hun Sen. This formalized a process of hereditary succession underway for several years. Notwithstanding the prospect of change at the top, the authoritarian modus operandi of Cambodian politics continued in much the same way as in previous years, with government harassment of the opposition, a series of politically motivated court cases, and…
How local political economy dynamics are shaping the Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’s ambiguity has opened the door to varied interpretations. Developing a structural political economy analysis, we push back against overgeneralised one-directional accounts in favour of a more nuanced localised reading, to show how recipient state political economy dynamics mediate the BRI as it unfolds in participating countries. We demonstrate this through analysis of Cambodia’s industrial development, drawing…
Introduction to Special Issue: The Cambodian People's Party's Turn to Hegemonic Authoritarianism: Strategies and Envisaged Futures
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Beyond Personalism: Elite Politics and Political Families in Cambodia
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Chinese linkage, leverage, and Cambodia’s transition to hegemonic authoritarianism
This article considers authoritarian linkage politics and its relationship to regime stability. Between 2012 and 2018, Cambodia experienced its worst political crisis in a decade. During this period, China’s economic assistance, diplomatic backing and military exchanges have cemented it as the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) most important foreign partner. This article’s findings support the linkage thesis: that ties between authoritarian…
After the Grab? Land Control and Regime Survival in Cambodia since 2012
The global land grab has played out vividly in Cambodia, giving rise to rural upheaval and new political dynamics. This article explores how the Cambodian government has dealt with the social and political consequences of this land grabbing, with the aim of exploring state formation in the context of socio-environmental disruption and dispossession. When a moratorium was declared in 2012, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party faced one of its stron…
Reassessing Cambodia's Patronage System(s) and the End of Competitive Authoritarianism: Electoral Clientelism in the Shadow of Coercion
The dominant literature on Cambodian politics over the past two decades suggested that a mixture of elite and mass clientelism had enabled the hegemonic Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to rule via competitive but authoritarian elections, while lessening its previous reliance on repression and violence. Such explanations did not predict the upswing in contestation in the country in 2013 and thereafter. Neither do they account for the crackdown that…
Chinese linkage, leverage, and Cambodia’s transition to hegemonic authoritarianism
This article considers authoritarian linkage politics and its relationship to regime stability. Between 2012 and 2018, Cambodia experienced its worst political crisis in a decade. During this period, China’s economic assistance, diplomatic backing and military exchanges have cemented it as the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) most important foreign partner. This article’s findings support the linkage thesis: that ties between authoritarian…
After the Grab? Land Control and Regime Survival in Cambodia since 2012
The global land grab has played out vividly in Cambodia, giving rise to rural upheaval and new political dynamics. This article explores how the Cambodian government has dealt with the social and political consequences of this land grabbing, with the aim of exploring state formation in the context of socio-environmental disruption and dispossession. When a moratorium was declared in 2012, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party faced one of its stron…
Reassessing Cambodia's Patronage System(s) and the End of Competitive Authoritarianism: Electoral Clientelism in the Shadow of Coercion
The dominant literature on Cambodian politics over the past two decades suggested that a mixture of elite and mass clientelism had enabled the hegemonic Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to rule via competitive but authoritarian elections, while lessening its previous reliance on repression and violence. Such explanations did not predict the upswing in contestation in the country in 2013 and thereafter. Neither do they account for the crackdown that…
How local political economy dynamics are shaping the Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’s ambiguity has opened the door to varied interpretations. Developing a structural political economy analysis, we push back against overgeneralised one-directional accounts in favour of a more nuanced localised reading, to show how recipient state political economy dynamics mediate the BRI as it unfolds in participating countries. We demonstrate this through analysis of Cambodia’s industrial development, drawing…
Speculative land grabs and Chinese investment: Cambodia’s evolving regime of dispossession
This article uses the concept of 'regimes of dispossession' to explore how processes of land dispossession are evolving in Cambodia. Focusing on Preah Sihanouk province, which has received an influx of capital from China, we show empirically how non-productive and speculative land uses are thriving, resulting in frenzied and chaotic patterns of land grabbing. Our findings suggest a new phase in the recursive relationship between land control and …
Introduction to Special Issue: The Cambodian People's Party's Turn to Hegemonic Authoritarianism: Strategies and Envisaged Futures
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Is Chinese Investment Driving Authoritarianism? Evidence from the First Decade of the Belt and Road in Southeast Asia
This article investigates the impact of Chinese investment on authoritarianism through the lens of authoritarian linkage, focusing on the first decade of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia and Malaysia. While both countries were electoral autocracies when the BRI was launched in 2013, their regime trajectories diverged. In Cambodia, Chinese investment reinforced elite patronage networks and coercive st…
Beyond Personalism: Elite Politics and Political Families in Cambodia
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Reassessing Cambodia's Patronage System(s) and the End of Competitive Authoritarianism: Electoral Clientelism in the Shadow of Coercion
The dominant literature on Cambodian politics over the past two decades suggested that a mixture of elite and mass clientelism had enabled the hegemonic Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to rule via competitive but authoritarian elections, while lessening its previous reliance on repression and violence. Such explanations did not predict the upswing in contestation in the country in 2013 and thereafter. Neither do they account for the crackdown that…
How local political economy dynamics are shaping the Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’s ambiguity has opened the door to varied interpretations. Developing a structural political economy analysis, we push back against overgeneralised one-directional accounts in favour of a more nuanced localised reading, to show how recipient state political economy dynamics mediate the BRI as it unfolds in participating countries. We demonstrate this through analysis of Cambodia’s industrial development, drawing…
Introduction to Special Issue: The Cambodian People's Party's Turn to Hegemonic Authoritarianism: Strategies and Envisaged Futures
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Beyond Personalism: Elite Politics and Political Families in Cambodia
Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs - Volume 43, Number 2, August 2021
Chinese linkage, leverage, and Cambodia’s transition to hegemonic authoritarianism
This article considers authoritarian linkage politics and its relationship to regime stability. Between 2012 and 2018, Cambodia experienced its worst political crisis in a decade. During this period, China’s economic assistance, diplomatic backing and military exchanges have cemented it as the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) most important foreign partner. This article’s findings support the linkage thesis: that ties between authoritarian…
After the Grab? Land Control and Regime Survival in Cambodia since 2012
The global land grab has played out vividly in Cambodia, giving rise to rural upheaval and new political dynamics. This article explores how the Cambodian government has dealt with the social and political consequences of this land grabbing, with the aim of exploring state formation in the context of socio-environmental disruption and dispossession. When a moratorium was declared in 2012, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party faced one of its stron…
Cambodia in 2022
The year 2022 began with a newly anointed leader-in-waiting in Hun Manet, the eldest son of prime minister Hun Sen. This formalized a process of hereditary succession underway for several years. Notwithstanding the prospect of change at the top, the authoritarian modus operandi of Cambodian politics continued in much the same way as in previous years, with government harassment of the opposition, a series of politically motivated court cases, and…
Speculative land grabs and Chinese investment: Cambodia’s evolving regime of dispossession
This article uses the concept of 'regimes of dispossession' to explore how processes of land dispossession are evolving in Cambodia. Focusing on Preah Sihanouk province, which has received an influx of capital from China, we show empirically how non-productive and speculative land uses are thriving, resulting in frenzied and chaotic patterns of land grabbing. Our findings suggest a new phase in the recursive relationship between land control and …
States and corporate land acquisition: Comparing regimes of dispossession across the global south
How do processes of land dispossession vary across countries and sectors, and how could these differences be studied comparatively? In this introductory essay to the special issue Comparing Regimes of Dispossession, we address these questions by analysing a range of cases of corporate land dispossession from Brazil, East Timor, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Cambodia. We compare these cases by analysing five aspects of dispossessionary processes…
Cambodia in 2023 and 2024
The end of 2024 marked the first full calendar year in power for Cambodia’s new prime minister, Hun Manet. Manet inherited the position from his father, Hun Sen, in August 2023, fulfilling long-standing expectations of a dynastic succession within the Hun family. Questions remain about the balance of power between Manet and his father, who continues to wield significant influence. Internationally, Cambodia has sought to maintain its political and…
Is Chinese Investment Driving Authoritarianism? Evidence from the First Decade of the Belt and Road in Southeast Asia
This article investigates the impact of Chinese investment on authoritarianism through the lens of authoritarian linkage, focusing on the first decade of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia and Malaysia. While both countries were electoral autocracies when the BRI was launched in 2013, their regime trajectories diverged. In Cambodia, Chinese investment reinforced elite patronage networks and coercive st…
Digital Crime, Dirty Money and the State: Southeast Asia's Illicit Political Economy and the Rise of Cybercrime
Over the past decade, cyber scamming has expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia. These operations cluster in compounds within business parks, casinos, industrial zones and other real estate developments. Although organized crime is often assumed to thrive where states are weak, this article offers a politically grounded explanation for why these economies take root in particular countries through complex and heterogeneous entanglements with the s…
Soft power beyond liberal democracy. Authoritarian attraction, legitimacy and diffusion
Soft power is one of the most widely used concepts in political science, but it has underestimated the attractiveness of illiberal or autocratic states due to its inherent liberal bias. In response, this article proposes a framework of authoritarian attraction emphasising the relational nature of power with three distinct analytical categories: (1) sender strategies, (2) audience preferences, and (3) behavioural outcomes. By drawing on and synthe…
Political science (10 works) · Cambodian History and Society (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Authoritarianism (7 works) · Democracy (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Political economy (6 works) · China (5 works) · Law (5 works)